Sea turtle returns home after recovery

A sea turtle that had been nursed back to health after buoyancy problems is prepared to be released back into the wild by Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific veterinarians outside the aquarium in Long Beach, CA on Thursday September 5, 2013.CHRISTIAN RANDOLPH, LONG BEACH REGISTER,

It quickly disappeared, last seen swimming in a southeast direction to warmer water.

“I'm relieved it's done,” said Lance Adams, the veterinarian from the Aquarium of the Pacific who had the job of nursing back to health the sea creature that's listed on the endangered species list.

Adams will be logging onto his computer today to see where the sea turtle is headed based on satellite coordinates sent via a transmitter glued to the top of its shell. It'll be a month before the transmitter falls off on its own, he said.

The olive ridley sea turtle – which was dubbed “No. 1301” to signify the creature becoming the first sea turtle of the year to get nursed back to health by the Aquarium of the Pacific – washed up on the Venice Beach shoreline and was found underweight in early January.

“Not many get trapped up here,” Adams said of the coastal Los Angeles discovery.

When found in January, the turtle weighed 63 pounds, down from its normal weight of 100, and had buoyancy problems.

Her body temperature was a chilly 42 degrees, down about 30 degrees from the normal 70 degrees when swimming in the waters off the central shoreline of Mexico, considered the indigenous home for this species.

In sea turtle parlance, the olive ridley was “cold-stunned” by drifting off course from its warmer habitat to the south, Adams said.

The sea turtle also suffered from “positive buoyancy,” a condition in which the carnivore can't dive for food, such as lobster and crab.

Shortly after it came to the aquarium, No. 1301 got a medical check-up that included blood work, X-rays and other tests.

It was injected with antibiotics for a month, then given X-rays to see if it had ingested a plastic bottle or had a fish hook lodged in her throat or stomach. Nothing showed up. Neither were there external wounds to her eyes, ears or nose, Adams said.

Over the past eight months, Adams said the sea turtle was nursed back to health in a six-foot-deep tank of water, which he slowly warmed up to about 60 degrees after a few days in order to keep it from dying of shock.

The prognosis for the turtle was that it had possible “lung lesion issues” that had led to its buoyancy, underweight and hypothermic problems.

Related Links

A sea turtle that had been nursed back to health after buoyancy problems is prepared to be released back into the wild by Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific veterinarians outside the aquarium in Long Beach, CA on Thursday September 5, 2013. CHRISTIAN RANDOLPH, LONG BEACH REGISTER,
A sea turtle that had been nursed back to health after buoyancy problems is prepared to be released back into the wild by Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific veterinarians outside the aquarium in Long Beach, CA on Thursday September 5, 2013. CHRISTIAN RANDOLPH, LONG BEACH REGISTER,
A sea turtle is released back into the wild off the back of a harbor Patrol Boat outside the breakwaters in Long Beach, CA on Thursday September 5, 2013. CHRISTIAN RANDOLPH, LONG BEACH REGISTER,
A sea turtle swims freely back back into the ocean under the waves after being nursed back to health at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA on Thursday September 5, 2013. CHRISTIAN RANDOLPH, LONG BEACH REGISTER,
A dolphin surfaces and seagulls circle in the air around a Long Beach Harbor Patrol boat shortly before the release of a sea turtle that had been nursed back to health by Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific veterinarians outside the breakwaters in Long Beach, CA on Thursday September 5, 2013. CHRISTIAN RANDOLPH, LONG BEACH REGISTER,
A sea turtle tries to get a closer at the cell phone of an aquarium employee before its release back into the wild after being nursed back to health in Long Beach, CA on Thursday September 5, 2013. CHRISTIAN RANDOLPH, LONG BEACH REGISTER,
The reassuring hand of a Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific employee rests on the back of a sea turtle during its move to a Long Beach Harbor Patrol boat that would transport the to a spot for release outside the breakwaters in Long Beach, CA on Thursday September 5, 2013. CHRISTIAN RANDOLPH, LONG BEACH REGISTER,
A small hand towel is placed over the head of a sea turtle in an attempt to calm it down as it is prepared to be released back into the wild in Long Beach, CA on Thursday September 5, 2013. CHRISTIAN RANDOLPH, LONG BEACH REGISTER,

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